In a move similar to their exploits in the Uganda telecom market in 2013 when Bharti Airtel entered into a “definitive agreement” with UAE-based Warid Group to acquire Warid Telecom Uganda, Airtel Rwanda on Wednesday said it had received regulatory approval to acquire Tigo Rwanda – a subsidiary of Luxembourg based Millicom International Cellular.
“Bharti Airtel Limited has received an approval for the acquisition of Tigo Rwanda Limited, a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular SA from the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA),” the company said in a statement.
Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA),the body that regulates public utilities on said it had approved the acquisition of Tigo Rwanda, a major telecommunication company by its rival Airtel.
“As such, RURA announces the transfer of all shares of Millicom International Cellular S.A. in TIGO Rwanda to Airtel Rwanda Ltd.,” said a statement released by RURA.
Tigo Rwanda is a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular S.A.The consolidation of the two operators is expected to bring industry stability, improved quality of services and product innovation, according to RURA.
The statement said subscribers will not be required to change their existing TIGO telephone numbers and existing TIGO cash services will not be affected.
Statistics released by RURA in October 2017 show that Tigo had 40-percent share of Rwanda’s total 8,675,826 active subscribers, compared to MTN’s 41 percent, while Airtel had 19 percent.
Airtel acquisition of Tigo will see the former become the biggest telecom company with market share of 59%
Millicom said in a statement in December that it signed an agreement for the sale of its Rwanda operations in line with company strategy to focus on providing advanced fixed and mobile data services in Latin America.
Latin America markets contribute 86 percent of Millicom’s group revenue, according to the website of Millicom.
The deal that was first announced on 19th December 2017 came as a shock to many since earlier rumors had suggested that Airtel was considering leaving some African countries that included Rwanda.
Airtel has operations across 16 countries, which include 14 in Africa.
The company had close to 84 million customers at the end of quarter ended December 30, 2017, the statement said.
